I recently decided that my diet could be improved. Not that I don't enjoy what I eat, far from it, and indeed I am healthy, but I realised how many days I go without the full range of vitamins and nutrients I should be having daily. In a bid to fix this, I started making myself breakfast smoothies.
Here are some of the recipes that have worked for me (and some tips about what doesn't work for me!). Bear in mind I'm not a nutritionist and have applied the standard "make it up as you go along" principle to my recipes as I do for anything else...
I've been having my smoothies where possible with a coffee by its side, and the combination is dynamite for brain power and motivation (with no slump when the caffeine wears off, wow!).
Glorious greenie
1/2 cup pineapple (from the freezer)1/2 a banana (frozen or fresh)
4 strawberries
Big handful of kale
About 200ml almond or soya milk (but eyeball it to the right consistency - you can always add more but you can't take it away!)
Blueberry delight
1/2 cup pineapple (from the freezer)1/2 a banana (frozen or fresh)
1/4 cup blueberries
Big handful of kale
200ml almond or soya milk (as above)
Fruity Popeye
(pictured above)1/2 cup pineapple (from the freezer)
1/2 a banana (frozen or fresh)
4 or 5 strawberries
Big handful of spinach
200ml almond or soya milk (as above)
I've been preparing all of these with my hand blender. I put the fruit into a plastic beaker (the one that came with the hand blender) and then have just used the blend attachment to mix everything together. It's not a perfectly smooth end result but the texture is really pleasant, and makes you feel like you haven't been diddled out of a "proper" breakfast.
Tips
Freeze as much fruit and veg as you can, chopped and ready to use. I freeze pineapple in chunks (makes a 75p pineapple last weeks), bananas are amazing peeled, sliced and frozen, and spinach and kale work as well from the freezer as they do fresh. I've also used frozen berries on occasion but while they're in season I've been adding fresh ones from the fridge. I tend to put the frozen fruits in my mixer jug as soon as I get up, then shower, dress etc and go back to make the smoothie at least half an hour later, allowing some defrosting to take place. Oh and keep the prepared fruit in freezer bags, not a box; significantly aids retrieving as much as you want without breaking your fingers.Make sure you add enough liquid. One day I didn't add very much and the the smoothie coagulated before my eyes. Hard to suck up through the straw and the gelatinous concoction nearly put me off the whole affair. I've been alternating between almond and soya milk - based on availability and nothing else. I prefer almond milk but soya is no hardship and my local Co-op stocks it.
Lob in a bit of what you fancy. Trusting your taste instincts is underrated. If you think it'll work it probably will.
Greens make the smoothie richer. Don't know why, they just seem to. None of my smoothies have tasted green or veggie either. Weird.
Don't leave the smoothie alone for too long. Another coagulation issue could arise. Or the dog could steal it.
Use a straw. Not only does it give you something to stir it with as you get down it, it makes it feel like you're at a kids party too!
